LOCK HAVEN, PA - With seven place winners, the Old Dominion wrestling Monarchs took seventh at the 30th Annual Mat Town U.S.A. Invitational at Lock Haven University's Thomas Fieldhouse Saturday.

The Monarchs finished seventh with 61.5 points. No. 16 Indiana University took first with 179 points, followed by a tie between the University at Buffalo and the University of Oregon at 138.5. Lock Haven had 99.5 points in fourth, followed by Rider University with 90, the University of Maryland with 71.5, and Clarion University with 37. Buffalo's Kyle Cerminara earned the Harris Lipez Most Outstanding Wrestler Award for his win at 197.

The place winners increased by three over last year's invite, including senior Adam Wright who last year placed second at 184, returned to Mat Town this time around to place sixth at 197. Great Bridge alum Nick Pullano grabbed third place at 157 pounds after beating competition from Maryland, the University of Oregon, and the University of Buffalo.

"The team overall wrestled well with seven out of nine placing in the top eight." Head coach Steve Martin comments, "Every week our young wrestlers are making progress."

Next weekend the ODU Wrestling squad will split up and half travel to the Las Vegas Invitational, with the other half visiting State College, Pennsylvania to wrestle in the Penn State Open.

"We are looking forward to Las Vegas and Penn State next weekend where we again get the opportunity to wrestle some of the best teams in the country in an effort to continue to season our athletes for the NCAA's," Martin said.

Mat Town U.S.A Overall Results:
Place Score School
1 179 INDIANA UNIVERSITY
2 138.5 UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO
2 138.5 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
4 99.5 LOCK HAVEN UNIVERSITY
5 90 RIDER UNIVERSITY
6 71.5 MARYLAND
7 61.5 OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY
8 37 CLARION UNIVERSITY

Results by class:

125: Freshman Bryan LaShomb went an impressive 3-2 on the day to place fourth at 125. He opened with a 16-5 major decision over Indiana's Wesley Fike followed by a 13-6 decision over Beau Malia of the University of Oregon before being defeated by Indiana's Joe Dubuque. In his final two matches, LaShomb battled to a 6-5 decision over Oregon's Ryan Dunn, and lost to Ryan Smith by fall at 4:28 to take fourth place.

133: Junior Michael Martin took sixth after going 2-3 at 133. He opened with a 8-2 decision over Casey Moore of Lack Haven University before beating Maryland's Sean Carr by fall at 6:39. He then fell to Andrae Hernendez of Indiana by fall at 6:36, only to get beat in consolation Brendan Byrne of Maryland and finally by Zach Cunliffe of Rider University to place sixth.

149: Sophomore Josh Tyler wrestled for Old Dominion at 149 going 0-2 in the tournament. Tyler's first match had him falling to Matt Cooper of Indiana by major decision 10-0. In consolation, following a first round bye, Tyler was defeated by Maryland's Keith Bernard in a 7-0 decision.

157: In one of his best performances of the year, sophomore Nick Pullano ended the day in third place going 3-1 at 157. Initially Pullano defeated John Cummings of the University of Buffalo before dropping his next match by a 13-0 major decision to Indiana's Brandon Becker. Pellano bounced back beating Maryland's Mike McGill by decision 12-10, then downing Cyle Hartzell of the University of Oregon by a 9-7 decision to take third place.

165: Senior Nelson Gosnell, who last year took fourth at 165, was unable to place this year after beating Mike Ragussa of the University of Buffalo in the first round by a 5-4 decision; Gosnell fell to Joe Maroney of Rider University in an 11-8 decision. In consolation, Sobhan Namvar of Lack Haven then defeated Gosnell in an 8-2 decision, eliminating him from the opportunity to place in the event.

174: Freshman Bryan Lenhardt went 3-2 on the day finishing in fourth place at 174 for the Monarchs. In his first match Lenhardt was defeated in a 10-1 major decision by Rider University's Doug Umbehauer. Lenhardt won his next match over Nate Rock of the University of Buffalo due to medial forfeit. He then went on to beat his next opponent, Chet McBee of the University of Oregon by fall at 1:57, before beating Ray Lamb of the University of Buffalo by decision 13-5. Lenhardt then faced Carlos Ponce of Lock Haven in his final match of the day and fell to a 7-1 decision giving him a fourth place finish.

197: Senior Adam Wright with a 1-3 record for the day captured sixth place at Mat Town. Wright defeated Jerry Afari of Maryland in the first round in a 10-6 decision before forfeiting his next three matches due to injury.

285: Senior John Dolida finished seventh at 285 with a 1-2 record. First round action saw Dolida fall in a close 4-3 decision to Lock Haven's Damian Carbone. In consolation, Dolida lost another close one to Clarion University's Richard Brooks by a 5-4 decision. In his final match for seventh place, Dolida beat Meyers by decision 2-1.